Waiting until the last minute has been my style for getting things done.
“I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung.” –Rabindranath Tagore.
Procrastinating is not waiting until the last minute. Instead, it means calculating what must be done and how much time I need. Then, when that last minute arrives, I jump in with a full, furious splash. This method has worked for me for the last sixty-six years. Lately, however, a new twist has cramped my work method. Unexpected events have been tossed in, causing the last minute to be last seconds, dare I say nanoseconds. My mother and I could not be more different in this aspect. She prefers to do things in advance. I might have to re-evaluate my method.
“My mother always told me I wouldn’t amount to anything because I procrastinate. I said, ‘Just wait.” –Judy Tenuta
Those unexpected pressure(s) (!) is doubled when my creative self draws a big chunky blank, and my creative goes on vacation without notice or a forwarding address.
“You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood. What mood is that? Last-minute panic.” –Bill Watterson
What do you do to get your creative juices flowing? Where do you find your Mojo? Who or What is your Muse?
Returning to the creative mood means getting in the tub, or calling my mom, or going to the brocante, going for a walk, or simply sitting back and making a list of what needs to be done. Without these activities, my motor would not start.
Flustered, I threw down the drafts I was working on. As they fluttered to the floor, one of the drafts landed on the console, where an old piece of satin ribbon lay. And BINGO, just like that, I felt a creative surge. The project unfolded with a vision of something so simple as a piece of paper falling gracefully on an old satin ribbon.
Isn’t life’s creative flow like that… one unexpected moment cracks the river stone and roars.
Is the river roaring or sleeping for you these days?
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